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Athletics-Rangers Preview

May 28, 2009 - 11:20 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Oakland (18-26) at Texas (27-19), 8:35 p.m. EDT

The Oakland Athletics haven't been consistent this month. Fortunately for them, Josh Outman has proved steady of late.

After seeing their season high three-game win streak end, the A's will look to bounce back with their young pitcher starting the opener of Friday's twinight doubleheader against the host Texas Rangers.

For every brief win streak Oakland has produced this month, a string of losses has followed. In addition to their three-game win streak, the A's (18-26) have won consecutive games three other times this month.

They have followed those wins with at least two straight losses each time and have endured a pair of four-game slides.

Following Wednesday night's 6-1 home loss to Seattle, Oakland will look to snap that trend behind Outman (2-0, 2.90 ERA), who is searching for his third win in four starts.

The 24-year-old left-hander has a 0.92 ERA over his last 19 2-3 innings, and has produced quality starts in four of his last five outings since returning to the rotation May 3.

"He's been lights out every time I've seen him here," recently acquired second baseman Adam Kennedy told the team's official Web site.

Outman kicked off the A's latest win streak by pitching into the eighth inning for the first time this season Sunday against visiting Arizona. He gave up one earned run and four hits over 7 2-3 innings, and survived a career-high five walks by inducing four double plays.

While Outman is 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA in two career starts against the Rangers, failure to hit his spots could cost him Friday.

Texas (27-19) is tied for the major league lead with 77 homers, while Oakland has an AL-low 33. The A's are also last in the AL with a .243 batting average and .354 slugging percentage.

After producing 16 runs and 27 hits during its win streak, Oakland managed one run and five hits against Seattle's Erik Bedard on Wednesday night.

Texas is 4-5 since a seven-game win streak. The Rangers dropped two of three at home to the New York Yankees this week, falling 9-2 on Wednesday night.

After sweeping Houston over the weekend, Texas was outscored 23-10 at its home park, where it had previously averaged 6.5 runs. Ian Kinsler's 13th home run provided the only scoring Wednesday.

Tommy Hunter is expected to be called up to replace Matt Harrison, who is sidelined with a sore left shoulder, and start the opener of the doubleheader. Hunter was 0-2 with a 16.36 ERA in three starts last season.

The Rangers, who could get Vicente Padilla back from a shoulder injury early next week, lead all AL rotations in throwing 100.1 pitches per outing, but manager Ron Washington insists that isn't a problem.

"I know our guys haven't had this workload before, but now they're being successful and they can handle it," Washington told the team's official Web site.

Oakland's Edgar Gonzalez (0-0, 1.80) will make his second start of the season in the second game after allowing one run over five innings Saturday night to Arizona. The Rangers will counter with Scott Feldman (3-0, 4.04), who is searching for his first home win since May 9, 2008, which was against the A's.

Feldman, searching for his fifth consecutive quality start, earned a victory May 6 in Oakland by allowing two runs over six innings.